US July consumer confidence considerably missed expectations

The US July consumer confidence considerably missed expectations, with the headline print showing a sizable decline to 90.9 (est. 100.0) from 99.8 prior. 

"Our US strategists note how rare such disappointments are, in pointing out that this recovery has only seen two other occasions with declines of this magnitude," says RBC Capital Markets. 

Digging through the details, one small silver lining is that it was lower income consumers that drove the decline, while above average earners (50k+) showed greater confidence. This is important insofar as the higher income earners are the bigger driver of spending.